Allele frequencies (AFs) and haplotypic associations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II were investigated in 400 unrelated, healthy, ethnic Northeast Thais. HLA-A, -B, -Cw, -DRB1 and -DQB1 were typed by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer, -sequence specific oligonucleotide probe and -single-strand conformation polymorphism methods. In this population, 17 HLA-A, 26 HLA-B, 15 HLA-Cw, 26 HLA-DRB1 and 13 HLA-DQB1 alleles (or groups of alleles) were found. AFs > 10% included A*11 (23.3%), 24 (18.8%), 0207 (14.4%), 33 (11.5%), 0203 (10.6%); B*4601 (13.9%); Cw*07(01-03) (18.5%), 01 (15.9%), 04 (12.0%), 0304 (10.6%); DRB1*1502 (18.5%), 1202 (13.4%); DQB1*0502 (20.3%), 0501 (16.3%), 0301 (14.1%) and 02 (10.9%). The most common of 2-locus haplotypes included A*0207-B*4601 (9.3%), B*4601-Cw*01 (13.5%), B*5801-DRB1*0301 (5.8%) and DRB1*1502-DQB1*0501 (14.1%). Of the 49 five-locus HLA haplotypes identified, 24 were confirmed in 31 family studies: the most common being; A*33-Cw*0302-B*5801-DRB1*0301-DQB1*02 (4.6%), A*0207-Cw*01-B*4601-DRB1*09-DQB1*0303 (3.4%) and A*33-Cw*07(01-03)-B*44-DRB1*07-DQB1*02 (2.6%). Apparently, the HLA-B*46-carrying haplotype is fragmented in ethnic Northeast Thais, including seven haplotypes with different HLA-A and HLA-DR/DQ combinations. One of these haplotypes (A*11-Cw*01-B*4601-DRB1*1202-DQB1*0502) has not been reported in other Asians. The results indicated that there were marked differences in the distribution of HLA alleles and haplotypes between ethnic Northeast Thais and other ethnic groups in Southeast and East Asia. These results also dictate that future studies of HLA alleles and diseases need precise identification of ethnically and geographically matched controls. The HLA allele and haplotype analyses in this large sample provide baseline information on ethnic Northeast Thais for anthropological studies and for determining HLA allele/haplotype frequencies when searching for HLA-compatible donors for unrelated bone marrow transplantation.

Human leukocyte antigens (HLA), class I, are a group of antigens expressed on most nucleated cell surfaces. They transport endogenous peptides to the cell surface for recognition by T-cell receptors. Their functions are involved in immune responses. Many diseases are associated with HLA alleles, especially HLA-B*27 that is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). HLA-B*27 consists of 42 subtypes. Different subtypes of HLA-B*27 were reported in different ethnic groups of AS patients. In this study, a high-resolution polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primer technique has been developed to define all the HLA-B*27 subtypes with a total of 29 primer mixtures. Two of the primer mixes were used to detect the HLA-B*27-specific group, and 27 primer mixes were used to identify 42 subtypes (B*2701-B*2721 and B*2723-B*2743). The HLA-B*27-group-specific primers have been tested in unrelated healthy subjects; 846 Northeastern Thais (NET), 334 Northern Thais (NT), 264 Karens, and 310 Bamars. Sixty-three NET (phenotype frequency, PF = 7.4%), 24 NT (PF = 7.1%), 5 Karens (PF = 1.8%), and 12 Bamars (PF = 3.9%) were positive for HLA-B*27. Only B*2704 was found in Karens, whereas B*2704, B*2705/37/39, B*2706, and B*2707 were found in NET and NT. In Bamars, B*2704, B*2705/37/39, B*2706, and B*2725 were found. The distribution of HLA-B*27 subtypes was compared with other studies in Asian and Caucasian populations. Significant differences of the distribution of HLA-B*27 subtypes were found in most of the populations. This study established a simple technology for HLA-B*27 subtyping and provided basic information for anthropology and further studies in disease associations.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*15 encompasses an increasing number of subtypes of more than 150. Frequency studies and a strong genetic association between HLA subtypes and susceptibility to drug hypersensitivity have been reported in different ethnic populations. To identify HLA-B*15 subtypes in Burmese using sequence-based typing (SBT) method, we selected 65 HLA-B*15-positive samples from 170 unrelated healthy Burmese who were genotyped HLA-B* by polymerase chain reaction with the sequence-specific primer method. The frequency of HLA-B*15 in Burmese was found to be 38.2%. By the SBT method, results showed 10 alleles of HLA-B*15 subtypes. Four common alleles, B*1502 (45.2%), B*1532 (16.4%), B*1525 (12.3%), and B*1501 (8.2%), were found in 82.1% of HLA-B*15-positive Burmese. Whereas the B*1501 was the highest in the Caucasians, Koreans, and Japanese, the highest frequency of HLA-B*15 alleles in Burmese was B*1502 (45.2%) that is similar to the frequency found in northeastern Thais and Vietnamese. This study is the first report of HLA-B*15 subtypes in Burmese. These results will provide the basic data in the further study in transplantations, genetic association with diseases, and drug hypersensitivity.

This is the first report on human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele and haplotype frequencies at three class I loci and two class II loci in unrelated healthy individuals from two ethnic groups, 170 Burmese and 200 Karen, originally from Burma (Myanmar), but sampled while residing in Thailand. Overall, the HLA allele and haplotype frequencies detected by polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) at five loci (A, B, C, DRB1 and DRQB1) at low resolution showed distinct differences between the Burmese and Karen. In Burmese, five HLA-B*15 haplotypes with different HLA-A and HLA-DR/DQ combinations were detected with three of these not previously reported in other Asian populations. The data are important in the fields of anthropology, transplantation and disease-association studies.

Rehabilitation is a crucial part of stroke recovery to help them regain use of their limb. The aim of this article was to compare the effectiveness of long-term training of mirror therapy with conventional rehabilitation therapy on neurological and recovery of upper limb in acute stroke patients. In this randomized and assessor-blinded control study, 20 acute stroke patients were analyzed in this study and allocated to a case (n = 10, 50.6 ± 17.90 years) and control group (n = 10, 55.9 ± 11.25 years). All the participants performed daily home exercise during 12 weeks. The patients in the control group were treated with conventional therapy (CT) and a group of cases were treated with mirror therapy (MT) alone program. The outcome measurements were assessed by a therapist blinded assessor using Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) upper extremity score, Brunnstrom recovery stages (BRS), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Muscle Strength to evaluate upper limb motor function and motor recovery. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests to compare within-groups and between-group differences. The results revealed that, after 12 weeks of treatment, patients of both groups presented statistically significant improvements in all the variables measured (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the patients of the MT group had greater improvement in the proximal movement portion of the FMA upper extremity mean score change (15.8 ± 3.2 versus 10.0 ± 2.7, p = 0.002) while there were no differences in other variables (p > 0.05). There were also no adverse events. It suggests that 12 weeks training of mirror therapy alone was likely to improve the motor recovery of the upper limb and activity of daily living in acute stroke patients than conventional therapy, if treated early.